


Dark Side of the Moon

by Burgie



Series: SSO Supernatural Creatures AU [2]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 03:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12831912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Jack shows his wolf form to his friends. Jack belongs to SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher and Z belongs to ZDusk.





	Dark Side of the Moon

Jack waited a week before he told his friends about Ydris’ new potion. He loved and trusted his fiancé, he really did, but he also knew better than to risk stuff before testing it out. And this wasn’t something as simple as a bike trick, if this backfired, his friends could get seriously hurt. Well, his friends and a forest full of magical creatures. And it would be really bad if he and Ydris were responsible for the loss of another of Jorvik’s Guardians. One was way more than enough, and they were still trying to figure out how to fix that.

But, after a week of trying out the potion and testing its limits, Jack found that the only downside to the potion was that he could control his wolf’s mind but he couldn’t control its hunger, so feeding was… awful. That was okay, though, Jack would just hunt before he met up with his friends. As long as he had time, anyway.

 _“Do you still want to see my wolf form?”_ Jack asked the group chat that he and his friends were in. He received all affirmative responses, so chuckled as he wrote back another message. _“Alright. Meet me in… Hollow Woods, I guess the lighting is best in, tonight at around 10? That sound okay?”_

Of course that was okay, this was the group where sleep schedules came to die. 

Though Jack had changed plenty of times by now, this was the first time he actually felt nervous. His hands were shaking as he drank the potion, so badly that he almost dropped it, but he managed to swallow the potion before the change grabbed hold of him, sped up due to his anxiety. For a moment, Jack was worried that the potion wouldn’t work with this more rapid change. But, to his relief, his mind shoved away the wolf brain, and Jack was a victim only to the hunger.

“Should I wish you luck?” asked Ydris as Jack padded past the wagon in his strange wolf gait.

“Couldn’t hurt,” said Jack. “I hope my voice doesn’t scare them.” To his ears, it sounded like a wolf’s growl, and he knew that two of his friends were scaredy-cats.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Ydris. “But just in case you need it, good luck.”

“Thanks,” said Jack, wanting to grin at Ydris but knowing that it’d only look horrifying. He brushed up against him anyway, leaving behind a few blue hairs, and then took off headed in the direction of Silverglade. He could grab a few bunnies on the way, and the Sunfield farm was too far away to go grab those dumb chickens. At least being in control of his wolf meant that he could choose what to hunt, he just had to ignore the wolf’s instincts to hunt down the tastiest-smelling thing.

The rabbits of Everwind Fields liked the sheep man. They knew that they were safe with him, and that they could outrun even the fast hooves of horses. But Landon went to bed at night, leaving his flock out in the field. He trusted Will to look after them. But Will didn’t look after the bunnies.

Jack had discovered this hunting ground once he’d finally been in charge of his mind. To his surprise, hunting the rabbits had also helped him with the race with them, though this probably had something to do with thinning out their ranks. He didn’t like hunting animals, but he knew that he had to. And now, as he grabbed a bunny and swiftly snapped its neck before it could squeal and alert anyone, he felt only the slightest touch of guilt. His hunger overshadowed it.

Knowing better by now, Jack took his kill into the forest to eat it, where he could dispose of the remains without anyone stumbling upon them. There was a good tree that he used. And then, his hunger satisfied for now, Jack ran across to the river to wash the blood from himself. While there, he drank deeply of the cool water. At least he could do this as a wolf without anyone looking at him strangely. Of course, as soon as he had that thought, he heard a rustling of leaves and turned, water still dripping from his muzzle and front paws onto the ground. The moonlight illuminated his blue fur, making it almost seem to glow, and Jack was silent for too long before speaking.

“Shit, you’re early,” said Jack. At the sound of his voice, the faerie trembled, and some leaves fell from her body. Or her outfit, whatever it was.

“Jack?” asked Louisa, the slightest tremble in her voice.

“That’s me,” said Jack, standing to his full hunched posture. Louisa stared at him, looking more than a little frightened. That stung a little, especially given some of the weird animals Jack had seen in the faerie forest of Mistfall.

“Sorry,” said Louisa, noticing that she was staring. “You just look a lot different to how I expected.”

“I know, the Jorvegian werewolves look a bit different to me,” said Jack.

“They’re fluffy,” Louisa agreed.

“Well, I guess the British werewolves are a different breed,” said Jack. “It’s okay, you can say it, I know I look like a freak.” Louisa winced, and Jack sighed.

“I look weird too right now,” said Louisa. “Autumn is… hard for me.”

“And here comes the non-weird-looking one,” said Jack, seeing the white form of a kitsune appearing to bound through the forest. She stopped in front of them, her tails waving.

“Sorry I’m late,” said Zelda. “But Louisa’s still here so it can’t be that bad.”

“Hey, I may not be as non-threatening as the Winterwell wolves, but I’m not that scary,” said Jack.

“Look on the bright side, you can scare other wolves away from your territory,” said Zelda. Jack gave her a look that probably would’ve worked better coming from a human face.

“So how do you… move?” asked Louisa, looking curious now.

“On my feet,” said Jack, getting back down onto all fours and padding away from the river to be with his friends. Louisa sat on the ground, which made both Jack and Zelda snort with laughter.

“Too bad I didn’t get to see you change,” said Louisa. “I’m curious about that.”

“Careful, she might write a bestiary entry on you,” Zelda teased. Louisa blushed.

“That was one time,” said Louisa.

“You don’t want to see me change,” said Jack. “Trust me.” He looked around. “Dizzy didn’t come?”

“She’s busy tonight,” said Zelda with a wave of her tails. “It’s just us three tonight.”

“That’s probably for the best,” said Jack. “Anyway, Ydris made this potion that’ll let me keep my human mind even in wolf form, so you guys can see my wolf form. Z’s seen it, though, obviously.”

“So how fast can you run like that?” asked Louisa. “It looks awkward.” But Jack was ignoring her, having scented a squirrel on the breeze. Thankfully not Steve, he was back at home safe and sound with Ydris and the fur babies, but Jack couldn’t ignore his instincts.

He was off like a shot, his long limbs enabling him to cover vast stretches of ground in seconds, and his hand-like front paws easily grabbing the prey. He didn’t even have to think about it, which he was glad for. As he sank his teeth into his meal, Jack forgot that he had company.

“It could be worse,” Zelda was saying when Jack finished eating.

“I know,” said Louisa, looking greener than usual (she already had green skin, being a faerie). “He could… ugh, I don’t want to think about it.”

“Sorry about that,” said Jack, quickly trotting over to the river so he could wash himself again. Louisa watched him.

“There’s something like an intelligent animal about the way you move,” said Louisa. “Or at least, the way you wash yourself. Like a raccoon.” Zelda laughed, an odd, barky sound. “You know what I mean.”

“Who knew the guardian of the forest would be such a nerd,” said Zelda.

“Animals and mythical creatures fascinate me,” said Louisa. “Besides, who would’ve figured that the kitsune was a weaboo.” Jack laughed, a raspy sound.

“She’s got you there, Z,” said Jack.

“Welcome to the weirdo club,” said Zelda.

Jack became more comfortable around his friends in this form as the night wore on. The only other interruption came at midnight, when Jack was seized by the irresistible urge to climb onto one of the many rocks in Hollow Woods and howl at the full moon that hung in the sky above them. He heard howls echoed from elsewhere, coming to him on the breeze, and knew that he was hearing the wolves of Winterwell. But his howl rose above them, an eerie sound that made even Zelda uneasy, and every horse in Jorvik shifted restlessly in their stables.

The conclusion of the night saw a very tired-looking faerie walking through the forest with a werewolf padding along on one side and a kitsune on the other side of her. Louisa was tempted to ride the kitsune, but that would be all kinds of weird. If she collapsed, though, Zelda would carry the faerie on her back.

“Isn’t moonlight supposed to energise faeries?” asked Jack.

“Some,” said Louisa, yawning. “I’m a plant one, though, I’m powered by sunlight and plants.”

“You should go to bed,” said Jack. “I’ll be alright with Z.”

“Ha, isn’t that our catchphrase?” asked Louisa. “Our slogan: Go to bed”. They all had a good chuckle at that.

In the end, Louisa couldn’t make it back to Mistfall as she’d wanted. She sat down in a little glade of trees instead, and Zelda curled up around her.

“Sleep,” said Zelda. “And this isn’t weird unless you make it weird.”

“Whatever you say, Z,” said Jack. “I’m going to get some more hunting done before the sun rises. I’ll need the energy to change back.”

The best thing about this potion, Jack decided, apart from knowing that he wouldn’t attack his friends, was the fact that he could feel every moment as he ran. And that was wonderful. The wind in his short fur, the way his loping strides ate up the earth, the feeling of the ground beneath his pads… it was wonderful. Not even the change or the need to hunt could dampen the wonderful feeling of just being able to run.


End file.
